


Missing Us

by aurora_chiroptera



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Nonbinary Hawke (Dragon Age), Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 07:50:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16301030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurora_chiroptera/pseuds/aurora_chiroptera
Summary: Alternative title: Five people who knew Varric was in love with Hawke before Varric himself did, and the one time Varric figured it all out.





	Missing Us

Varric had sworn off love long ago. There were not enough dwarves in Kirkwall, and those that were there weren’t his type. But he was a storyteller, a liar by some reckoning, and he had all sorts of stories about why he was disappointed when any knock at his door wasn’t Hawke.

Isabella spotted the little downward tug of his lips when he let her in that evening. “Darling, are you expecting more exciting company than me?”

He chuckled, waving her to one of the chairs by the fire. “No, no. I expected it to be just me tonight.”

“This explains why you’re such a boring neighbor,” Isabella sank down, proffering a bottle of wine. “I never hear you doing any... research.” She winked hugely, as if he couldn’t follow her meaning.

“I’m a serial bachelor,” he shrugged, taking the bottle and pouring it into two cups grabbed from the table.

“With your looks?” she ran a finger down his chest as she snatched her cup, the wine sloshing as she dodged a swat. “Come now, you must be so pent up.”

“Really Isabela, I’m doing fine,” Varric shook his head, still smiling as he sat back down himself.

“Aren’t authors supposed to have a muse?” she hummed before taking a sip. “Someone who inspires their art? I doubt your crossbow is giving you that.”

“Gross,” he said. A knock sounded before he could scold her more. Isabella watched Varric closely as he called, “Who’s it?”

“Hawke!” chimed the Champions voice. Isabella wished she had a mirror to hold up for Varric so he could see his face give him away and confirm all of her suspicions. There was no serial bachelor, just one love struck, pining fool.

-*-*-

“I’m really fine,” Varric grumbled, wincing as Anders tugged up his sleeve.

“You have an arrowhead in your arm, so I am going to disagree,” Anders held his hand over the wound, numbing the area before taking up a small scalpel.

“Hawke was injured more than I was,” Varric looked over the cot where Hawke was sleeping.

“Which’s why I took care of them first,” Anders assured. “And they’ll be up in a few hours, good as new.”

Varric kept staring, eyes following the rise and fall of Hawke’s chest as if to assure himself that they were still breathing, still there. Anders used that distraction to begin cutting the arrowhead out, a steady flow of healing magic preventing heavy blood loss.

“I wish they’d be more careful,” Varric said. “They threw me out of the way when they saw I had been hit. Foolish...”

“Hawke is one of those people who’ll do anything for the people they care about,” Anders used tweezers to pluck out the arrowhead, and then placed his whole hand over Varric’s arm to finish healing the wound, only leaving a small scar behind.

“Yeah,” Varric sighed, tugging his sleeve back down. “Can I stay with them?”

“Of course,” Anders pressed his free hand into Varric’s shoulder. “I have some extra paper and ink if you want to write as you wait.”

“Thanks,” Varric glanced at him for a moment. “And thanks for patching me up.”

“Always friend,” Anders stepped back, and stretched. He began tidying up as Varric moved to sit on the empty cot next to Hawke. He pretended not to notice as Varric took one of Hawke’s hands in his own, nor that Varric didn’t let go until Hawke started to stir.

-*-*-

“Hello Varric,” Fenris said, spotting the dwarf in front of Hawke’s door. “Is there a mission?”

Varric jumped a bit and turned as if guilty. “Ah, no. I just wanted to check in.”

“I’m sure Hawke would appreciate it, I believe that they sometimes find being the Champion quite lonely,” Fenris said.

“Ah,” Varric frowned. “Thank you for letting me know.”

Fenris nodded and they stood in awkward silence for a moment. “I was coming over to borrow a book. Shall we go in together?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Varric knocked. “I’m actually also on book related business.” He held up a stack of papers.

“No doubt it will be a welcome reprieve from Anders’ manifesto,” Fenris chuckled. He watched Varric as the door opened and Hawke’s beaming face greeted them both.

The soft smile on Varric’s face, accompanied with a light blush, led Fenris to believe that Isabella and Anders might just be onto something.

-*-*-

“Why hello there, Daisy,” Varric moved to sit beside Merrill, who was perched looking out to sea. “What has your smile turned upside down.”

“Oh, just feeling a little homesick, is all,” she looked down at her hands. “It’s been so long since I lived in Ferelden, but I miss it this time of year.”

“Isn’t it all snowy and gross now?” Varric asked, frowning.

“Yes, and it’s so beautiful! Everything is so fluffy and soft, the air so silent and peaceful,” Merrill sighed. “It’s nice to live with the other elves in the alienage, but it gets so noisy and dirty.”

“That’s city life, though,” Varric said, but put a comforting hand on her shoulder. They sat together, the sounds of the ocean almost drowning out those of the wharf.

“Varric, when are you and Hawke going to talk?”

Varric sputtered. “We talk all the time.”

Merrill turned her large, green eyes on him. “But you’re both dancing around what you really want to talk about.”

Varric frowned. “I don’t think I follow you Daisy.”

Merrill sighed again, putting a hand over the one on her shoulder. “You will, when you’re ready.”

-*-*-

Varric sat in his room. It felt like too much, all that was going on in Kirkwall, his home. Everything he did to try and keep Kirkwall together, it still seemed to only get worse. The death of Hawke’s mother felt like the final straw. He needed to go to Hawke, he couldn’t let them be alone. Climbing all the steps to Hightown, he felt heavy and tired. He was glad none of the gangs were out to harass him. They would not like his current temper.

Bodahn let him in without a question. His eyes were tired and sad. “They’re in their room. The uncle came and didn’t make anything better.”

“Have they eaten?” Varric asked.

“No, but I’m not worried about that yet,” Bodahn said. “I’ll be keeping an eye on them though.”

“Good man,” Varric said, and turned to go to Hawke’s room.

Hawke was sitting in a chair by a bright fire, but shivers shook through their body. Tear tracks glistened on their cheeks, as though they had been crying quietly for a long time.

“May I join you?” Varric asked, voice soft.

Hawke nodded, and Varric closed the door behind him. “How bad do I look?” they croaked.

“Like you could use some company,” Varric said. He stood awkwardly in front of them, before reaching on a hand, and wiping their cheek. “Want to tell me about growing up in Ferelden?” 

They nodded, closing their eyes as they leaned into his hand. Varric moved to sit on the bed, and was surprise when Hawke followed. They sat across his lap, and he wrapped his arms about them as best he could. Their shivering stopped, head resting against his own as they began to talk about how close their family had been, always on the run but always so loving.

Bodahn entered a few hours later with the makings for tea, only to find them both asleep, fully dressed, clutching on to each other in refusal to lose the other. He left the kettle and blew out the candles, pausing to admire the little smiles on both of their faces before returning to his duties.

-*-*-

Varric didn’t know why he gave in then of all times. Maybe it was because they were most likely all going to die. Damn it Anders, Kirkwall maybe fucked up but this wasn’t the answer! But as they started off, he grabbed Hawkes arm and said. “Can I kiss you?”

Hawke looked at him, blinking in surprise and then the brightest smile lit up their face. “To do that, you’d probably need to find a box. How about I kiss you?”

Varric beamed right back. “An acceptable alternative.”

They leaned down, capturing his lips in their own fiercely, briefly. He leaned up, pressing a hand to their cheek. They broke apart to Isabella shouting, “Fucking finally! But terrible timing, templars are headed this way!”

They parted, and Varric knew his face was blushing dark. “Let’s survive so we can revisit this later.”

“I’ve always liked the way you think,” Hawke winked, then swung their staff around and prepared to fight. Varric stood at their back, ready to protect them from anyone trying to sneak up behind them. He sure as hell was going to make sure they both made it out of this alive.

They had a lot of missed time to catch up on.


End file.
